Sense and decide
Working Backwards (PR/FAQ)
Write the future announcement and the questions people would ask before you build, so you start from the outcome and the customer.
Borrowed from Amazon's "working backwards" process, described in Working Backwards by Colin Bryar and Bill Carr. Read the original source.
One session · An hour or more to set up · Anyone on the team can start it
Try this first
Write two things before you build. The announcement, and the questions people would ask.
Use it when
A team is starting from a tool ("let's use AI for X") rather than a customer outcome.
Skip it when
It suits substantial work aimed at a customer. On small internal tasks it is overhead, and it fails as a ritual that rubber-stamps a decision already made.
How to introduce it
Before building, write the announcement you would want to make when it is done, and the questions people would ask about it. Amazon writes the press release and FAQ first. It forces you to start from the outcome and the customer rather than from the solution you are excited about.
How to show up
Get the announcement and the questions written honestly, and use them to test the idea from the customer's side. An unconvincing press release is information, not a writing problem.
How long it takes
An hour or so to write and discuss, before building.
What makes it hard
Teams are attached to what they want to build, so writing honestly from the customer's outcome, and listening when it reads thin, takes discipline. The temptation is a glowing release that justifies the plan.
What it looks like when it's working
The team starts from a clear outcome and customer, and sometimes the exercise kills an idea. An always-glowing release means it is justifying rather than testing.
How long until it sticks
Expect a few uses before starting-from-the-outcome becomes the team's natural first move.
How you know it stuck
The team writes the end-state and the customer's questions before committing to build.
The idea behind it
Starting from a solution you like builds the wrong thing well. Writing the end first tells you whether the beginning is worth it.
Where it comes from
Amazon's writing culture. Start from the outcome and the customer, not the tool you want to use. Teams write the future press release and FAQ for a product before building it.
Why it matters for senior teams
It shapes direction and consequential decisions
Also fits: The team keeps seeing the problem the same way
Home problem: People aren't working from the same picture